Environmentalist raise concern about increasing plastic waste in urban areas
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P
atna: With the state progressing on the path of economic development, rapid urbanisation, marked by population growth, has also given rise to a serious environmental concern.
While air and water pollution are nowhere to go, environmentalists, ahead of World Environment Day, observed on June 5, have raised concern about an increase in plastic waste at an alarming rate in the state.
Bihar State Pollution Control Board's former chairman Ashok Kumar Ghosh said India's per capita plastic consumption has grown to approximately 11kg per year, and this is expected to rise further with increasing industrialisation and consumerism.
This year's theme 'Beat the plastic pollution' assumes significance with environmentalists raising concern about urban areas, where the demand for single-use plastics has risen drastically, notwithstanding the govt ban on its use.
If current trends continue, by 2050 the plastic industry could account for 20% of the world's total oil consumption as according to Ghosh, more than 99% of plastics are produced from chemicals derived from oil, natural gas and coal — all non-renewable resources.
He said plastic generally degrades in about 500 to 1,000 years, though we may never know its actual degradation time, as this material has been in use only since the last century. Plastic discarded in soil or water bodies physically break to form microplastics and nanoplastics, depending on their size. They enter food chain and finally in human body, leading to many health issues, including cancer.
During its manufacture, many hazardous chemicals are emitted that can lead to several other dreadful diseases in humans as well as animals.
Ethylene oxide, xylene and benzene are some of the chemical toxins present in plastic, which can have hazardous effects on environment.
Patna University geology teacher and former chairman of State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, Atul Aditya Pandey, said that the menace of plastic has now reached even to the depth of ocean basin. There are reports of microorganisms being adversely affected by the micro plastics.
"Nowadays even cow milk is found to contain microplastics. Human health is directly affected by the ever increasing use of plastics. A firm administrative control on production and distribution of plastics and mass awareness campaign can only beat the plastic pollution," he said.
Environmentalist Mehta Nagendra Singh said that India's waste management infrastructure has not evolved to handle the growing volume of plastic waste.
An estimated 77% of the waste generated in Indian cities is dumped into open landfills without being treated. Only 60% of the plastic waste generated is recycled, and this is often done inefficiently in the informal sector, he said.
To check the use of plastics, Singh suggested that people should be motivated to start using paper or cloth bags for shopping and other purposes as much as possible. Use of omnipresent plastic bottles for drinking water must be discouraged at public meetings or markets, he added.
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